Love the jacket! 100 percent wool? I'm slowly going mad this winter, temps have been very cold, done some snowshoeing, but not enough. Building a canoe, think I'll start tying flies again in front of the fireplace.
Look for unfrozen water. My local home river is dam fed from the bottom of a reservoir, and the top 5 miles or so rarely freezes.
The tidal stuff a few hours away likewise. The long range forecast on the coast looks like we may see a warming trend, with daytime highs in the 40’s and lows in the 20’s, so I can keep a wind and weather eye out and hope for favorable tide timing.
For local tripping stuff within a half day’s drive I’ll wait for a forecast of mild winter weather and pack on the spur of the moment.
If weathered home my shop is warm and I always have a half dozen projects in various stages of completion.
Mem, it has been brutally cold here too the last ten days, -40's windchills but a warming trend starts tomorrow so hopefully you will get that as well. Single digit minuses by the weekend.
Christine is spending the winter bringing things home from the dump... but no canoes yet.
Ice fishing here. Its kinda weird sittin out on the ice where I've passed by with a canoe. And then, its kinda weird passing by with a canoe where i was ice fishing.
When it's cold and snowy, mostly it's best to do cold-and-snow-related things. Poring over maps and old trip reports get pretty old. It's OK to indulge the occasional fantasy, but too much of that makes Jack a dull and morose boy.
Wow Turtle! You look pretty darn good there! Do you use some kind of toboggan to move your gear when you're snowshoeing? I've never done any winter camping, would the plan be that you'd build a reflecting fire in front of the opening?
Your coat sure looks warm, I like the way it extends below your knee, much like the way of the various military "great coats". I wonder why, for winter use, they ever decided to make men's coats short they way most of the coats are now.
Thanks for sharing!
I slept under lots of blankets on top of a tarp,hay and a sheepskin. Yes 1943 military Alaska style, that's exactly what those prized snowshoes are and I love them. Lots of flotation and they are 1/2 the weight of new ones in that style. A friend that camped with me wants me to leave them to him in my will! We used a common fire to cook on and sit around and spin yarns. When I'm alone I build a fire at the front edge of my tarp,but only use in for cooking and sitting in front of, I don't keep it going all night for warmth. I pull my stuff on a narrow wooden toboggan. It's important to have a toboggan as narrow as your snowshoe track of in rides up out of it and tips. Lots of fun, but I can't wait for solo canoe camping.
Turtle
I made a capote out of a blanket from a mill in PA that has been around for 150 years. It closes with a belt and has a coyote fur collar from a coat I found in an antique store. It is the best thing in the snow there is. Buckskinning and historical re-inactments are lots of fun. I have a Voyager outfit.
For years we always had winter tent parties with canvas tents and woodstoves. The original ones took place in CO and WY with lots of buckskinners. They would come early and stay past midnight. Great Times.
I had a big tent party Saturday night, probably about ten people in the tent. -29 outside, but sweating inside. Having another one this Friday. I'm going to need some more snow before I build an igloo this winter, we usually do that first week of February.